Introduction

The Tiki is a native, spiritual figure from Hawaii. There are many different headdresses portraying different meanings, but they all have a menacing expression with a wide mouth to frighten away evil.

A Tiki mask is often worn for hawaiian themed beach parties or celebrations. Here Donald Drennan shows us how to make a very realistic one.

You Will Need

- Cardboard
- Toilet roll tubes
- Styrofoam
- Masking tape
- Glue
- Jointing compound
- Ceiling texture
- Black and brown paint
- Sea sponge
- Clear acrylic sealer

Step by step

Here is step by step of how I made the Tiki Mask using cardboard, papier mache, drywall joint compound and paint.

This is what I was going for:

Real stone heads

This is the second mask I have built. The first one was built more out of papier mache, was heavier, and lacked structural integrity. I started a little differently this time. I discovered on the last one that it would be best to build most of the structure in cardboard first. Like the last one, I moulded it around a tall kitchen garbage can. I got a bunch of discarded cardboard boxes and cut them up. I then wrapped that around the can, glued it and taped it. I made the nose from toilet paper tubes, masking tape and glue. The forehead has several reinforcement pieces in it, and plenty of glue.

I continue to build up the structure in cardboard and possibly some styrofoam, plastic, or whatever I have on hand (it's all about free discarded material for me, as much as possible). Then I start layering on the paper and glue. You can use thinned out white glue or carpenter's glue, or mix up some wheat paste out of flour and boiling water. I used a bit of both. if you have some old sheets you can rip up, that makes it even stronger. Here I've made ears out of some styrofoam and glued them on.

Building up with styrofoam

Next I made the mouth out of another type of flexible packing foam, all discarded material. Note the red line. That's where my eye level is when I put the mask on.

Details of mouth